So You Call Yourself a Christian?

What exactly does it take to be a Christian?  Does saying, "I'm a Christian" really make you one?  Should our words and actions be taken into account when we claim Christ, or does the proclamation alone suffice? 

It is no secret that many Christians have been turned off to church.  Usually something has happened that makes them rebel against the Christian community and it can usually be summed up in one word - hypocrite.  Most Christian churches are communities of hypocrites but we cannot admit it because we cannot see it within ourselves.  It is tough to look at ourselves in the mirror without bias or denial and see who and what we are with any clarity.  But the question is, does claiming Christ require that we act differently, talk differently, walk differently and love differently?  The answer is a resounding, "Yes!"  Most Christians would agree, and yet we struggle at times to even speak to each other with civility, let alone love. That glance in the mirror, even though we now see dimly,  should glaring show us the deep changes that are required in the very core of our beings to talk and act as Christ would desire.  

What if, after claiming Christ for years or decades, we don't change?  What if we still continue to act entirely out of our own sense of "rightness" and self-importance, never looking back at the bodies of the faithful we've trampled beneath us as we pursue our desire to "live out" Christ's call to us?  If we work in the church, volunteer in the church, or simply come to church, some change should be evident, somewhere, somehow, sometime, to somebody.  So often it isn't.  Why?  

A church filled with people who hear the word of God preached weekly but never listen to that word becomes an unsafe place.  Actually listening to the word, the Good News of Jesus Christ, should change us, unquestionably.  That change should not even require conscious action on our part - the word alone is powerful enough to change us if we really listen and absorb it.  The power of Christ's love for us all, the promise of real life regardless of the world, and the realization of the presence of the Kingdom here and now should be enough to transform us, if not immediately, then certainly after years or decades of establishing a relationship with God.  What does it mean when it doesn't happen?

Perhaps the preaching isn't good enough, perhaps the written word is incapable of penetrating a bivouacked mind, perhaps the church's milieu is a barrier to change.  I could spend hours listing reasons, however, the blame lies in only one place - the individual who hears the word but doesn't listen, the one who claims he is a Christian but acts like the world. 

The early church required change in a person.  Catechism was at least a year long and if your words and actions did not reflect your profession, you were not permitted to join the community of Christians.  Either you stayed for additional study and instruction, or if you persisted in your former ways and did not take up the yoke of Christ, you were sent away.  The catechism required dedication, persistence, obedience, hard work and time.  Time to ingest what you were learning.  Time to transform.  Proclaiming that you were a Christian meant that you were now a different person, reborn into a being unlike your previous self.  Saying you were a Christian really meant something.  

Unfortunately, that's not the case today.  Anyone who wants to can hang a cross around their neck and say they are Christian.  But the world knows that actions speak louder than words.  I wish we had a faith-o-meter to see if a person really was transformed, or better yet, a love-o-meter.  If you score low you are not permitted to join the community of Christians.  You could still come to church, to learn and grow, but then at least your un-Christian words and actions would not turn people off or turn people away because those words and actions would be expected.  If your love-o-meter scored high you would be permitted to join the community of faith and be expected to act as one, to live as one, to be Christ in the world - even to those who are different or who you don't like.  If you don't or can't, you're booted out for retraining.  No questions.  

What would the church be like if we really walked the talk?  What would the world be like?  

They would both be transformed, just as we should be transformed.  If you say you are a Christian but still act like you are of the world of non-Christians, something is wrong.  Really wrong.  Don't go looking to place the blame on others.  The blame is yours.  Do something about it.  Seek the transformation that eludes you.  Read the Bible, listen to preaching, hang out with real Christians, pray, pray, pray, meditate, read and pray some more.  Examine yourself.  Get counseling if you need to.  Do whatever it takes so that when you say you are a Christian, people can see that Christ lives within you, that you are, to the best of your ability, Christ in the world.  If you speak and act as a non-Christian, then you're not one, regardless of what you claim to be.  Claiming Christ is not lip service to the world.  Claiming Christ is real, deep, meaningful, and is the most important thing in your life, hands down, without question.  Pursue Christ as if he is the only thing that gives you purpose, life and breath.  Because he is.  Pursue Christ because you are tired of your old, crappy, meaningless life, because Christ is the only one who can give your life meaning and purpose.  But whatever you choose, by God, don't say you're a Christian if you can't act like one.  Don't take others down with you.

Miracle

Do not pray for easy lives;
     pray to be stronger.
Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers;
     pray for powers equal to your tasks.
Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle,
     but you shall be a miracle.
Every day you shall wonder at yourself,
     at the richness of life which has come to you
     by the grace of God.

Phillips Brooks

The Essence of Destiny

Watch your thoughts, for they become words.    
Choose your words, for they become actions.
Understand your actions, for they become habits.
Study your habits, for they will become your character.
Develop your character, for it becomes your destiny.

Lao Tzu

Fundamentalists, Liberals and All That Jazz

I'm sure you've heard people talk about fundamentalist Christians or liberal Christians.  Have you ever wondered how they compare to each other?  Or perhaps you've heard the terms "Neo-Orthodoxy" or "Systematic Theology" used in something you've read.  What in the world are they?  Well, below are a few key propositions that define each stance.  You may find that you agree with all of the propositions in one theological stance or another, or you may find that you agree with some and not with others in all of them.  Where do you fit in, and how did you learn to believe what you believe? 

THEOLOGICAL PROPOSITIONS OF FUNDAMENTALISM

1.  THE BIBLE.  The Bible is the inerrant Word of God, meaning that it contains no factual errors of any sort (including no scientific or historical errors)  It is free of errors because the Holy Spirit inspired the writers and communicated factual information to them that they could not have otherwise known.  Even though the authors expressed truths in their own words drawn from their particular cultures, the Holy Spirit oversaw the writing the therefore scripture contains nothing that is misleading.  Consequently, all of scripture is equally inspired and equally authoritative.  You must accept the plenary inspiration of scripture in order to trust that its message can save us.

2.  THE VIRGIN BIRTH.  The Virgin Birth narratives state the role of a human father in Jesus' conception was replaced by a miraculous act of God.  It is on this basis alone that Jesus' divine nature can be affirmed, because it was acquired through this miraculous conception.  The doctrine of the Incarnation requires a belief in the miraculous conception in which no human father took part.

3.  THE ATONEMENT.  God could secure the atonement of the sins of humanity only by having Jesus, an innocent representative of the human race, die on the cross  This act satisfied God's justice, for in it punishment was executed (substitutionary theory of the atonement).  Because Jesus was actually innocent and did not need to receive the punishment in order to justify himself, his satisfaction of God's justice could be extended to others who actually are guilty.  The theme of punishment, which requires suffering, is encapsulated in the central image of Jesus' blood, shed for us.

4. THE RESURRECTION.  The resurrection of Jesus was an historic event, occurring in ordinary time and space, in which Jesus' body was reanimated.  The body left the confines of the tomb, was present on earth for 40 days, and then physically ascended into heaven (However, Jesus' reanimated body was indeed transformed in some respects, becoming more spiritual without breaking all continuity with its physical.

5.  MIRACLES.  The Miracle stories in the Bible represent God's historical interruption of the ordinary laws of nature in order to bring about certain events that otherwise would not have happened.  These miracles occurred exactly as narrated in the Bible.

THEOLOGICAL PROPOSITIONS OF LIBERALISM

1. THE BIBLE.  The Bible is an expression of the religious experience of ancient Israel and the early church.  It represents the chronologically extended struggle of a highly spiritual people to understand the Divine reality more adequately.  It is NOT the word of God coming to us from some transcendent sphere.  A progression can be seen in the Bible from more primitive (and more inadequate) forms of religious experience to deeper, richer, and more profound forms of religious experience. The Bible is a human record of a progressive human spiritual journey, reflecting the prejudices, mistakes and failings of the people who wrote it.  Nevertheless, it is a profound (the most profound, perhaps) record of religious experience.  We contemporary Christians most locate ourselves in this story of human religious evolution and extend the trajectory. 

2.  THE VIRGIN BIRTH.  The Virgin Birth narratives are a poetic and symbolic way of expressing the truth that Jesus was a very profound teacher and spiritual guide.  Of course, he was conceived and born in the standard human manner.  There was nothing supernatural about his biology or ontological composition, except that he was supremely aware of God and God's will in the deepest levels of his experience.

3.  THE ATONEMENT.  A loving God does not need to punish anybody in order to be reconciled with sinners.  The death of Jesus on the cross, in which Jesus continues to do God's will and continues to call God "Father," shows that it is possible to remain in spiritual contact with God in spite of earthly suffering and tragedy.  Jesus' death also shows that we all should be faithful to God's mission and call, in spite of worldly threats and dangers.

4.  THE RESURRECTION.  The stories of the resurrection show that, in some sense, the spirit of Jesus, and the spirits of all faithful persons, lives on, either in the memory and experience of future generations, or in the mind of God, or both.  The language of bodily resurrection and the talk of some sort of novel post-mortem individual experience are symbols of this enduring spiritual quality and should not be take literally.

5.  MIRACLES.  The miracle stories in the Bible are archaic rhetorical means of expressing certain eternal spiritual truths.  For example, to say that Jesus walked on water means that the pure of heart can remain tranquil in the midst of earthly tribulation.

THEOLOGICAL PROPOSITIONS OF NEO-ORTHODOXY 
(Per George Richards) 

1.  THE BIBLE.  The Bible functions as the Word of God when it is used by the church to witness to God's redemptive work in Jesus Christ, who is the true Word.  In order for this to happen, the Holy Spirit must open the hearts and minds of the hearers of Scripture.  Apart from this use, the Bible in itself is a human book, written in humanly chosen and therefore imperfect words.  It contains the biases, limitations and prejudices of the people who wrote it.  Nevertheless, God's providence was sufficiently active in its composition and redaction to insure that it can function as a reliable witness to God's redemptive act in Jesus Christ.  Without this witness, we have no access to Jesus.  Therefore, the Bible, as used by the church through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, is our sole authority and infallible guide in essential matters of faith.

2.  THE VIRGIN BIRTH.  What exactly happened behind the Virgin Birth narratives is a mystery.  It is essential for Christians to believe that the birth of Jesus did occur though this unique, creative act of God, and that through the birth of Jesus Christ the eternal Logos did enter the world.  This is the essential point of the birth narratives.  The historical mechanisms through which this transpired cannot be known and need not be known.

3.  THE ATONEMENT.  The crucifixion of Jesus is indeed the atoning act of God, through which God and Man (sic) are reconciled.  However, Jesus' death was not a "payment" made to appease the wrath of an angry God.  Rather, the death of Jesus enacts God's solidarity with sinners in the midst of the deadliness and God-forsakenness of human guilt and alienation.  God shares with our guild and alienation.

4.  THE RESURRECTION.  The stories of Jesus' resurrection point to an historical event, the exact nature of which cannot be known with any certainty.  But we can known the essential point of these stories: that in Jesus, God has conquered death itself, and that this conquest involves the preservation of our earthly, embodied identities.

5.  MIRACLES.  The miracle stories in the New Testament express symbolically God's (including the incarnate God's) lordship over all nature processes and God's healing presence in, through, and over those processes.  The truth of this theological conviction about God's lordship and healing intent does not depend on the exact historically factual nature of any of these stories.

SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY (by Charles Hodge, 1872)

1.  The Bible is to the theologian what nature is to the man of science.  It is his store-house of facts; and his method of ascertaining what the Bible teaches is the same as that which the natural philosopher adopts to ascertain what nature teaches.

2.   The duty of the Christian theologian is to ascertain, collect, and combine all the facts which God has revealed concerning himself and our relation to him.  These facts are all in the Bible.  This is true because everything revealed in nature and in the make-up of man concerning God and our relation to him is contained and authenticated in Scripture. Therefore, "the Bible, and the Bible alone, is the religion of Protestants."  Theologians must be guided by the same rules in the collection of facts as scientists.  

3.  This collection of facts must be made with diligence and care.  It is not easy work; there is great possibility of error.  Almost all false theories in science and false doctrines in theology are due to mistakes in this area.  

4.  The collection of facts must not only be carefully conducted, but also comprehensive and, if possible, exhaustive.  Imperfect "facts" led men to believe that the earth was flat and the sun moved around it.  Likewise in theology, this type of faulty collection of information has led to serious errors.

Therefore, if natural science is concerned with the facts and laws of nature, theology is concerned with the facts and principles of the Bible.  The object of the natural scientist is to arrange and systematize the facts of the external world and ascertain the natural laws which govern them.  The object of the theologian is to systematize the facts of the Bible and to determine the principles or general truths which govern the facts therein.  

Systematic theology says nothing about inspiration or transformation.  Scripture contains data and informs our understanding of man and God.  It is very different from a liberalist view, which is defined by high criticism.

(Note: the information above was taken from a lecture by Lee Barrett, one of the very best educators and theologians you could be lucky enough to meet.  He teaches at Lancaster Theological Seminary, in Lancaster, PA)

My Photography Book, Vol. 1

Click here to view this photo book larger

Photo Book Tip: Create an adventurous travel photo album at Shutterfly.com.

I just finished up a photo book at Shutterfly.  It was kind of fun and might be something to think about for Christmas...hmm...yeah, maybe.  I only made it because I decided to input all the coke top codes into the "My Coke Rewards" web site instead of giving the caps away like I had been doing (sorry Tony).  This was one of the things you could "win" for adding up points.  I made this and ordered it because the book was free besides the shipping cost.  I also thought it would be cool to see my own photos in a book.  You know, pretend I'm professional or something.  Of course, if you want to try to make a buck or two this is not the place to do it...Shutterfly makes all the money.  So if you happen  to look at this and decide to buy a print or something, please go to my photo site at http://lynnhackman.zenfolio.com.  At least then I can make a few bucks for the rent instead of Shutterfly.

I was trying to figure out how to use this to make money for church.  Perhaps you could make a church yearbook or something and sell it?  However, the books are not cheap so the sell price would have to be fairly high to make it worth the while.  Also you would more than likely need to obtain the permission of everyone in the book, especially children under 18 years of age, to do it.  That would be both difficult and time consuming. 

It would be neat to make a family album that you could order and distribute to members of the family.  I'm going to have to consider this for a belated 60th Anniversary gift for my parents (although I will have to clandestinely steal their photo albums from their basement, a basement my father frequents and could notice their disappearance.  However, it would definitely be worth the "risk").  I think they would like that. 

Anyway, this is a neat little capability of Shutterfly, and more than likely other sites out there.  It's certainly something to consider when trying to come up with unique, interesting and appreciated Christmas gifts for the person (or persons) who have everything.

Video: Gravel Hill's History

Here is the history section which was to take the place of the initial fire section.  Again, this was never used.

Video: Capital Campaign video 1 - not used

I was asked to put together a video for the Capital Campaign.  I planned three sections.  I began by reworking the initial fire video (posted somewhere in this blog) I put together several years ago in order to add some interviews, and then placed what we've been doing over the last year as the second section.  There is a transition between the sections which I narrated.  I was going to get another person who does this very well to do the narration after I added the second transition.  However, I was told that the fire video was no longer relevant to the current congregation so I scrapped it and made a quick "history" of Gravel Hill, which is posted after this one.  I put an awful lot of work into these videos, so I posted it so if anyone was interested, they could watch it.  I did not blur any clips of children - most of them go by quickly or are covered with text.  Hope you enjoy parts 1 and 2 of a not used video...